wedding ceremony

Sarasota’s new Carlisle Inn, located in the heart of the Pinecraft Amish and Mennonite district, provided the backdrop for an intimate and unique September Sarasota wedding for David Turner Music.

Interestingly, my cellphone’s 305 area code (Miami) almost got me overlooked for this wedding, as the bride thought I would be coming from South Florida, and couldn’t imagine how I could stay within her budget. Once I assured her that I’ve been a Sarasota resident for seven years, everything was good. In fact, I was really pleased to find out that the venue would be the newly constructed Carlisle Inn, as it is right around the corner from me. For this wedding I would be behind the DJ booth…no saxophone.

David Turner Music of Sarasota, FL DJ Service

I took a few minutes to check out the new hotel and it’s built-in PA system the night before the wedding, since I would be DJ-ing using the house sound system. Of course, as musicians and DJs know, sometimes it’s pretty hit or miss when you’re using the hotel’s sound. Luckily, I was greeted by a nice pair of QSC speakers suspended from the ceiling, and a wall mounted LCD QSC mixer. So, I knew that I wouldn’t have any problems with sound quality at this wedding venue, once I made the connections and got the levels correct.

As guests arrived to the reception from a local church, I played a nice mix of newer popular music that wouldn’t be too distracting. A family’s arrival at a wedding usually kicks off a lot of conversation, so it’s important to keep the music light, initially. For the first dance, Ed Sheeran’s Perfect was quickly recognized by the guests in attendance. When it was time to kick things up a little after dinner, some top 40 from the last decade or so, with some pre-requested Argentinian music got things moving (The late Rodrigo was featured, among others). Some of the hits I played from my personal music collection included songs by Pit Bull, Calvin Harris, FloRida, Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake, Dua Lipa, Alessia Cara, Chainsmokers and more. I tossed in a couple older songs but, for the most part, Vivana wanted to stick with songs from the last 10-15 years. Later in the evening, I was even able to throw in one of my nice recent remixes, Attention by Charlie Puth.

Since this was a second wedding, the bride and groom were very chill. It created a perfect, fun atmosphere for everybody at the party, and I’m happy to report that Viviana just left a nice 5-star review for me on Bark.com.

As a provider of quality musicians for wedding ceremonies in Sarasota, Tampa, Fort Myers, Naples, and Orlando, Florida, I often encounter questions from clients regarding the style of music and type of musical groups we offer here at David Turner Music. Currently, we offer the more traditional wedding music options like strings (solo violin, solo cello, string duos, string trios, and string quartets) and flute (I play flute with strings, in a solo setting, or even with background tracks). As a saxophonist, I can offer a more contemporary take on the wedding ceremony, playing pop music, jazz, etc., along with some more traditional songs as well.

All of this said, it’s very common to see classical strings performing popular music for weddings these days. It seems like simply a matter of finding good sheet music and/or arrangements of the latest pop songs, and letting the musicians do their thing, right? Well…not exactly. This is where it becomes critical to find a company like David Turner Music to oversee this process. Sometimes, appropriate pop music for wedding string groups is difficult or impossible to find. So, instead, tweaking or rearranging piano music for the group, or even writing out new parts will often be required. We have the expertise to do this at minimal cost to you, and the end product will be much better than some of the “faking it” that occurs with our competitors (only one or two instruments in a group playing at a time, more than one instrument playing the same exact part, etc.). Additionally, when I’m playing flute on the job, my years of learning to improvise means that I can comfortably make up great inner parts on the spot when playing pop music as part of a string duo, trio, or quartet. Ultimately, you want to be sure that the pop music you’ve selected for your ceremony processional, recessional, etc. is played well, and actually recognized and enjoyed by your guests. We will do our best to make sure your ceremony is unique and memorable, by offering great sounding pop and classical wedding music!

I have many Florida brides and grooms ask me “what are other people doing for ceremonies?” These days, there’s not really a simple answer to that question. Some clients still utilize traditional classical music for their wedding ceremony, some want a lot of popular music, and many choose to utilize both. It’s not uncommon to start a wedding processional here in central Florida with Pachelbel’s Canon in D, shift to a song by Ed Sheeran, play a Beatles song for the bride, and exit to Mendelssohn’s wedding march, for example. In the case of semi-traditional Jewish weddings, brides and grooms may take a similar approach, mixing classical, pop, and traditional Jewish selections for ceremony. It really comes down to personal preference…after all, it’s your big day!!

Saxophone is a unique and more contemporary instrument to use for wedding ceremonies, and provides a different kind of vibe, for certain. Most often, I’m asked to play pop music for my ceremonies in the Sarasota, Tampa, Naples, Fort Myers and Orlando area. However, some light classical music can certainly work as well. I like to utilize background tracks whenever possible, to provide the nice full sound of a larger band playing at the wedding ceremony. I’m familiar with a ton of pop music from the 1950s up until today, so special requests are usually no problem at all.

Another thing that I’ve had success with at my Florida weddings (with string groups, flute, and saxophone), it’s taking a song that may be too fast, too heavy (think rock and roll), etc., and changing it to fit the more reserved ambiance of a wedding ceremony. For example, I once played a nice slower version of Billy Joel’s classic “Uptown Girl” on flute, with guitar and violin, for a brides entrance. It was cool, because it still sounded familiar to the guests, but fit in nicely with the more traditional songs that preceded and followed.

Well, hopefully this answers some of the questions regarding wedding ceremony groups and current trends in ceremony music selection. And, don’t forget about our wedding FAQ section on the site for more general info about ceremonies, cocktail hours, and receptions. Until next time, thanks so much for tuning in to Sarasota’s David Turner Music blog…where we discuss all things related to top-notch musical entertainment for your wedding or event in the greater Sarasota, Naples, Fort Myers, Tampa and Orlando, FL areas!